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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I Heart Moab!

This year for fall break we packed up the kiddos and headed to Moab! James found a good deal on a used Jeep Wagoneer that was modified for rock crawling. He spent a lot of time working on the engine, putting a backseat in, and making it super cool and safe and everything! I don't really know anything about engines and whatnot, but he did a good job. We loaded it on the trailer and made our way south. We had a BLAST! We camped for three nights, the kids were in heaven. They all did so good, they slept just great in the tent, they ran around the campground, climbed rocks and got very dirty. We camped in the Sandflats Recreation Area but spent most of our time out on the trails. We did two trails, Fin's n Things, which actually starts right next to our campsite, and 7 Mile Rim which starts north of Arches. The last time James and I were in Moab we bought a book that tells you all about all the off-roading trails in the area. Both of the trails we did were rated difficult so I was a little bit nervous but the Jeep did amazing! Every time we would come to what I thought would be too difficult, the Jeep just hopped right over it. Both trails were so beautiful. Fins n Things is mostly all on slick rock and passes a very cool rock formation that looks like a dinosaur. 7 Mile Rim climbs to the top of the cliffs, then winds back down over slick rock, then ended up at Tusher Tunnel, a hundred foot long, narrow tunnel through the rocks. Each day we packed the Jeep with lunch and stopped to have a picnic on the trails. The kids loved it! Miles and Savanna were having so much fun the whole time. Avery had a hard time the first day, she kept telling James to slow down and I had to sit with her and hold her hands, but the second day she was laughing and kept telling James to go faster! It was awesome! Fins n Things was the first trail we did so we weren't quite sure what the Jeep could handle. We came to a really steep slick rock hill that some other Jeeps were taking their time on. We decided that the kids and I would get out and hike to the bottom and James would take the Jeep down. We got out and started heading down, I told the kids to stay by me and we would find the easiest way down. Savanna ran ahead and said "Here mom, we can just slid down on our butts!" Then she just sat down and slid all the way to the bottom! It freaked me out but she was totally fine! Miles and Avery followed right after her. After James drove the Jeep down (which was easy) the kids climbed up and slid down a few more times. The second day on 7 Mile Rim, we stopped near the top to eat lunch. Miles was running around and found a little wedge in the rocks and climbed in there for "shade". James noticed a metal box hiding back there and pulled it out and opened it. Inside were some random objects and a note book. The notebook said it had been left there in 2006 and if you found it you were supposed to write the date you were there, take something from the box, and leave something. So we wrote a note, took the GI Joe action figure and left...a tampon. We didn't have much to spare. I though it was so cool that we found it, it was really hidden away and you had to be in just the right spot to find it.
We had an amazing trip, saw some amazing things, and got to spend a lot of family time together away from it all! I love Moab and we all really loved Jeepin'. Can't wait to go back!

The steep hill the kids and I slid down

Eating lunch on the trail

Miles loved riding up front with James

Pretty girls!

Savanna and Avery sitting on the rocks that James just climbed in the Jeep

Sliding down slick rock became the favorite thing for the kids to do

View from 7 Mile Rim

P.S. In my last post I wrote about how James and I met in Mr. B's photography class. When we were in Moab we ran into Mr. B at the grocery store, he was also there enjoying his fall break, small world!